In an era when streaming media has made every piece of old celluloid new again, it may finally be time for the art of slapstick to make a comeback. For anyone who grew up watching TV on UHF channels, physical comedy...
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Coury TurczynQ&A: comic-book artist Johnny Ryan’s “gross-out bathroom retard humor with nudity and insanity”
Johnny Ryan’s comics will probably offend you on several different levels—before you start laughing despite yourself. His Angry Youth Comix takes extreme behavior to such absurd levels that it’s simultaneously shocking...
When Prince became [a symbol], the nation’s art directors received a very special gift
In 1993, Prince Rogers Nelson changed his name to a unique glyph of his own design (aka “The Love Symbol”) that was intended to represent his male/female duality. This presented an unprecedented challenge...
The legacy of French illustrator Jean Giraud is vast—but difficult to find in print
In 1999, Sony was so sure it was destined to become a Digital Age Disney that it opened its own high-tech amusement park: the Metreon in San Francisco. But what this $85 million “urban entertainment center” with its...
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Remember the glory days of SACD? No? Well, maybe it’s not too late…
As Blu-Ray Audio (aka, “High Fidelity Pure Audio”) completes its swan-dive into commercial oblivion (2014-2017, RIP), it may comfort those who invested in this little-known music format that a cult following is just...
Q&A: Tim and Eric’s suburban-hell masterpiece, ‘Tom Goes to the Mayor’
Comedy team Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim (aka, Tim and Eric) specialize in the absurdity of American culture—to its ugliest extremes. While they often portray characters of uncommon repulsiveness, they’re also...
Q&A: John Kricfalusi’s history of animation (and what he really thought of ‘Toy Story’ and ‘The Simpsons’)
The animation industry of the late 20th century was still churning out a lot of weak stuff. At the time of this interview, self-distributing your work on the Internet was still not a viable thing, so animators who...
The One True King of Cartoons: Will John Kricfalusi ever get his due?
In 1991, John Kricfalusi and his Spümcø studio made cartoons cartoony again. In an era when “animation” meant stiff, dumb, imagination-free shows that existed merely to hype product tie-ins, John K.’s...
Reassessing: ‘Black Hole’ (2005) by Charles Burns
Charles Burns is obsessed with slits. In Black Hole, his multi-award-winning graphic novel now in paperback, they appear on page after meticulously drawn page, from the split bellies of biology-class frogs to the neck...
Q&A: comic-book artist Johnny Ryan’s “gross-out bathroom retard humor with nudity and insanity”
Johnny Ryan’s comics will probably offend you on several different levels—before you start laughing despite yourself. His Angry Youth Comix takes extreme behavior to such absurd levels that it’s simultaneously shocking...
The legacy of French illustrator Jean Giraud is vast—but difficult to find in print
In 1999, Sony was so sure it was destined to become a Digital Age Disney that it opened its own high-tech amusement park: the Metreon in San Francisco. But what this $85 million “urban entertainment center” with its...
Russ Meyer’s reputation as cinema’s dirtiest old man remains, but his best film has the least sex: ‘Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!’
Russ Meyer, the eternal boob man, passed away at age 82 in September 2004. Arguably the first “indie filmmaker” as we define it today, the director, actor, producer, writer, cinematographer, editor, and...
The making of Tom DiCillo’s ’90s indie gem, ‘Box of Moonlight’
For a brief time in the 1990s, independent American filmmakers were suddenly important—or, at least, they were getting attention for their work. In this pre-Netflix era, when movies still seemed more like an art than a...
Q&A: cartoon artist Jhonen Vasquez and the return of ‘Invader Zim’
Jhonen Vasquez was born to be a comic book artist—he started drawing as a child and hasn’t stopped since, though it wasn’t his primary career aspiration. He simply enjoys illustrating. His first published comic...